


Dying

by yeaka



Category: Dante's Cove
Genre: Ficlet, Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 12:31:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20796680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Adam and Toby are left beyond the mirror.





	Dying

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Dante’s Cove or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

To Adam, it seems a strange justice to be trapped in a perpetual world of nothing—he wasted his life anyway and never deserved much better. He spent his younger years beating up anyone who was different, constantly picking on everyone who got too close, and he was still a dick after he graduated. He whittled away his family’s money, blew it on sex and drugs and a greasy pleasure island, then spiraled into addiction and drained Toby’s time and happiness. But Toby _didn’t_. For as long as Adam’s known him, Toby’s been nothing but an angel, and he deserves so much more than what they’ve ended up with. 

When he bangs on the glass and screams himself hoarse, it’s Toby that he’s really angry for. He gives everything he has, pounds at the wall until his fists bruise and his skin breaks, because he needs to get Toby home. Toby yells just as loudly beside him, every bit as terrified and furious. Adam can’t stand it. He hates seeing Toby hurt. There was a time when he’d do it on purpose—when he’d mercilessly tease and bully the cute boy next door that had a crush on him, and a sick, twisted part of him would get off on seeing Toby cry. Now those memories make him feel like a monster, and it’s so much harder to hear Toby’s voice crack and see his eyes crinkle with moisture. 

Toby pulls back and slumps down to his knees, hands stilling against the clear wall that stretches up before them. They can see things on the other side—different things that swirl in and out of existence: Grace’s kitchenette, Kevin and Ambrosius in bed, sometimes even the bar of H2Eau. But nothing can see them. No one ever looks over. It seems like Toby’s given up trying. 

Adam collapses next to him, panting and exhausted but still full of rage. It isn’t fair. Not for him. But Toby did everything right, and Adam’s miserable with himself for ever calling Toby in after him. 

Toby’s arm slumps over his shoulders, one hand curling around his bicep, rubbing him gently. It’s strangely soothing, even though it can’t offer any real hope. Toby’s weight is heavy, but Adam still savours it when Toby slumps against him, closing in on him like a comforting cocoon. 

Toby mutters brokenly, “This is a shit way to die.”

Adam swallows. He doesn’t think they will die. It feels like they’ve already been gone for hours if not days, and he isn’t hungry, isn’t thirsty. His stomach is just a dull ache like the rest of his body. He wants freedom and craves the sun. But it feels like this new realm will keep them alive forever without it, offering torture by way of nothing. 

Adam finds himself grunting, “At least we’ve got each other.” Which feels awful to say. Because he really wishes Toby was anywhere else. 

But Toby squeezes him in understanding and breathes, “Yeah.” He presses a lingering kiss against the side of Adam’s face; Adam turns for the next one, returning the chaste reassurance and nuzzling into Toby’s cheek. He loops his arm around Toby’s sweaty back and pulls Toby in tighter. They’ve got nothing but their jeans, but Adam doesn’t think that’s why he feels cold. At least Toby’s warm. His skin is a furnace that Adam eagerly sinks into. Toby presses their flushed foreheads together and rasps, “Hey... whatever else happens... I love you, okay?” His voice has a waver to it. Adam hates that. 

But he nods. “Love you too.” He gives Toby another kiss, full of no small amount of desperation. Something shimmers along Toby’s jaw line, and Adam pauses, leaning closer to curiously examine the sudden sliver of light. 

Undistracted, Toby nips at Adam’s chin and bends to kiss his neck, pressing harder, more insistent, like trying to prove to the darkness that there’s still love left in them. The light flares brighter—Adam looks back at the glass.

There’s a hairline fracture in it. His breath catches, holding. Toby noses down Adam’s throat and dips a wet tongue into his clavicle, dragging along his collarbone—Adam shivers with delight and arches into Toby, though his eyes stay fixed on the barrier. Every time that Toby kisses him, the light intensifies. 

Adam dazedly repeats, “I love you.” The crack widens exponentially. It’s like their love is punching through it. Adam doesn’t waste time trying to explain it. He grabs Toby by the hair and jerks Toby back up to him, crushing their mouths together. He kisses Toby as hard as he dares, diving in to lick every nook and cranny of Toby’s mouth that he can reach. His free hand runs down Toby’s spine to dip beneath his jeans, fingers curling underneath it to grab a fistful of his ass. Toby moans and presses into Adam, eager for every touch. His palm flattens against the crotch of Adam’s pants and cups the growing bulge there.

Around a slew of wet, messy kisses, Toby murmurs, “Adam,” with such adoring reverence that Adam’s chest constricts. 

The glass shatters. It startles Toby enough that he pulls back, but Adam lurches into motion. He grabs Toby’s forearm and yanks him through, scrambling across the threshold. The two of them tumble out of the realm of shadows and onto the hardwood floor of Grace’s beachside living room. 

They’re free. A hoarse, humourless laugh scratches out of Adam’s throat. Toby’s silent, then lunges at him. 

They meet in the middle and hold each other tight while the last of the shadows dies away.


End file.
